Handover

Handover is the transfer of the works from contractor to employer at practical completion — keys, certificates, operating manuals and the health and safety file — marking the start of the employer\'s occupation and the defects period proper.

Handover is a ceremony with commercial machinery underneath it: the certificate of practical completion triggers retention release, ends the liquidated damages clock and starts rectification. The document set travels with the building — operation and maintenance manuals, as-built drawings, the health and safety file under CDM — and an incomplete set is the most common reason a certified completion does not feel like one.

For commercial teams the checklist discipline pays twice: once at handover itself, and again when the arguments come, because what was handed over, when, and with what recorded reservations is the first exhibit in every post-completion dispute.

Related: practical completion · snagging · retention